We spoke with Intel GM of its intelligent solutions group Kumar Balasubramanian, who explained, "The family of gateway solutions starting with Quark based and Atom processor based solutions is actually being made available now and our hardware partners are taking advantage of these things and are building their own respective products. They'll be introducing these into the market later on in this quarter.

"This gateway not only has Intel's processors but also integrated software which is pre-validated. That includes software from both Wind River and McAfee.

"Wind River provides integrated software capabilities for rapid development of software applications. These are things that help people deliver apps and services on their gateways but [woth] strong capability of security, manageability and connectivity."

Balasubramanian added that the gateway also provides good runtime development as well as development tools so developers can create their applications and solutions on these gateway platforms more easily and much faster.

Customers developing gateway products include Shaspa for energy and building automation, Rockontrol for energy management, Transwiseway and Vnomics for transportation, and Zebra Technologies Corp for locating solutions in retail, healthcare and manufacturing.

The SD card sized Edison is a Pentium class PC powered by a dual-core Quark system on chip (SoC) running Linux and, despite its size, it has built-in WiFi and Bluetooth modules. The device can also connect to its own app store, Krzanich boasted during a keynote at CES, adding that he hopes developers will snap up Edison to build the next generation of wearable and connected devices.

On Wednesday, Krzanich said that Intel is extending Intel Edison technology to a family of development boards that will address a broader range of customer needs and will now include Intel's 22nm Silvermont microarchitecture with a dual-core Atom SoC, increased I/O capabilities and software support, as well as "a new simplified industrial design".

As part his IDF keynote, Krzanich also said that the company plans to build upon its nearly 30-year history in China and collaborate with the growing Chinese technology ecosystem, particularly in Shenzhen, to accelerate innovation and reshape the computing industry. µ